Jamie flies the flag (From Daily Echo)

Jamie Oliver to open Union Jacks restaurant in Winchester at end of month

2:30pm Thursday 17th May 2012 in Winchester

CELEBRITY chef Jamie Oliver is to open his new Hampshire restaurant at the end of the month.

Two branches of the new Union Jacks chain have opened in London within the past six months.

The third, in Winchester, will be the first outside the capital and he popped in to check its progress.

Having taken over the former Pizza Hut outlet in the High Street, the redecorated venue will also specialise in pizzas.

Or to give them their exact name, flatbreads, with toppings including pork and crackling with apple.

The restaurant has already hired 35 people, with more to follow, and the country’s most famous Essex boy took time to meet the new team.

Jamie already joins an elite band of celebrity chefs to have made their mark in Winchester.

The city is already home to restaurants launched by other celebrity chefs like Raymond Blanc and James Martin.

He said: “We were looking for a university city and also a market town, and this feels right.”

Famous for his Naked Chef TV series, Sainsbury’s adverts and healthy school dinner campaign, Jamie has teamed up with Chris Bianco, from New York who has won several awards for his pizzas, to produce the flatbreads.

He said: “What we want to do is to make the menu accessible. If it’s elitist and people can’t afford to eat it, then there’s no point.”

He added that, where possible, the restaurant, which opens on May 28, would be using local produce, including wines and beers.